The White Dress
by Ajm3665
Summary: On Halloween night in season 2 Buffy picks out a beautiful white dress complete with a fantastic ruby necklace. But what Buffy doesn't know is that the dress and necklace belonged to someone very, very dangerous. The vampire named Drusilla.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel belong to their copyright holders, I own nothing. The idea for the story belongs to Greaser Kid.

**Timeline: **Starting in season 2, will eventually go a lot further.

**Pairings: **Some Drusilla-Buffy/Spike and Buffy/Angel.

**A/N: **This first chapter is similar to some of the episode from the series, but keep reading, the changes will really start happening soon enough.

Drusilla danced. Slowly and methodically, she danced her way to her destination, stepping one foot forward and then pausing and swinging her arms as if someone else was there with her and they were slow dancing. In reality, no one else was there with her and the only things in her arms were the doll Miss Edith and a beautiful white dress.

Her eyes were closed. The songs were playing so loudly in her head and she could see the notes swirling and flying in front of her own eyes, changing colors and shapes and bringing a small smile upon her face. She could see the notes, and inside the notes she saw what was coming, what had to be done. The notes were leading her to her destination. Opening her eyes was not necessary because the notes would lead her to the beautiful bright light she saw, the soul that was so bright and colorful it was dark and evil.

It was the dead of night. The something _new _she saw, the new soul, was calling Drusilla. She would come, darling; she would come to the soul because she had the answer he was searching for. He just didn't know it yet.

"We're going, Miss Edith," Dru told the doll, her eyes still closed as she was nearing the destination. "We go then get your tea."

Suddenly the music, the swirling colors of notes, and her dancing stopped, replaced by darkness behind her eyelids. They'd arrived. She opened her eyes, seeing the generally small building in front of her, looking just as it had in her visions. _Ethan's Costume Shop. _

How simple, how ominous.

The lights inside _Ethan's _were off. Drusilla walked towards the doors. Thankfully they were unlocked and she opened them. There was a little bell sound signaling the walking in of a potential customer. She giggled at Miss Edith who wanted to play with the bell. She held the doll tightly and then looked around the costume shop. All the faces and masks seemed to stare at her, those bad, bad boys and girls. Near the back of the shop there was the faint flicker of candle light in a back room covered by a curtain.

The curtain made a swooshing sound as it opened and a pair of loud footsteps walked out. The lights in the shop appeared so suddenly, causing Dru to cover her eyes with the dress until they were ready to adjust.

"We're closed," Ethan said to her, coming forward, unable to see her face. He stopped a few feet in front of her.

She lowered the dress, revealing her face. Ethan Rayne was no idiot. He knew all about demonology and black magic, and he also knew about the most famous vampires and the Whirlwind gang that was previously filled with Angelus, Darla, Spike, and Drusilla. One of those vampires was standing right in front of him. He'd recognize Drusilla anywhere based off of many drawings he'd seen, despite the fact that they'd never met. He held up his hands in a way to say he was no threat, meanwhile trying to think of a way to escape.

"Look at the man," Drusilla spoke, "gleaming full of darkness. I see your insides."

"What do you want?" Ethan took a defensive approach to her.

"My, my, so rude to us, Miss Edith. And all I want is to help." She extended her arm with the dress in it. "I have a gift."

Ethan frowned, looked at the dress hanging off of her arm. It was long and white, very beautiful, clearly. Why was she giving it to him? Either way, it didn't matter. He didn't want to get Drusilla mad. He stepped forward, slowly, and took the dress from her arm. "It's-it's magnificent," he stuttered, unsure of what he should say.

"Give it to her."

"To who?" Ethan asked, looking up at her again.

"To _her. _She rises and falls with such power. She thinks she owns the night." She opened her hand, revealing a ruby necklace in her palm. "Connect with Janus and it will never end. She must wear this with the dress. It has special powers. Oh, shapes and forms and changes."

Ethan's eyes opened wide. How did she know about Janus, about his Halloween plan? He took the ruby necklace. It was a generally small blood red circle that was much heavier than it appeared. Just by grasping it he could feel the amount of power coming from it. Whatever it would do, he could feel that it did, indeed, need to be connected with the Janus statue. Perhaps it would prolong the affect of the spell he was planning, making it even more difficult to end. There was a large amount of possibilities. But holding it, he knew, just _knew, _that he had to use it. And it needed to be worn with the dress. Who would wear the dress, though? Who thought they owned the night?

The answer came to Ethan effortlessly, as if it was meant to come to him that way. She has extraordinary power and owns the night, according to Drusilla. Who else would it be other than the Vampire Slayer?

"So rude," Drusilla said, a small piece of music beginning to appear in her head again. She started rocking her head from side to side. "We don't even get a thank you, Miss Edith."

"Thank you," Ethan echoed. Dru turned and started walking towards the exit. The door swung shut behind her. Ethan watched her as she walked across the street and then disappeared from sight.

Hurriedly, he rushed to the back room where the Janus statue was in. He was doing preparations for Halloween, which was still two nights away. He laid the dress down carefully and brought the necklace over to a spell book he had and started frantically searching through it for something that looked like the necklace.

There! A picture in the spell book that looked exactly like the necklace. He skimmed the passage quickly, finding out that the necklace was something extraordinary. It had the power to not only make someone become someone else, but to literally change the person wearing it into a different person, appearance and everything. In order for it to work, though, it needed to be somehow connected to the Janus statue with a spell. Then they'd be in sync, nearly. Since they'd be connected, the spell that caused everyone to turn into their costumes wouldn't be able to end with just breaking the statue, either. There were many more complications. It was a genius plan.

Ethan Rayne silently thanked Drusilla for showing up and bringing him this revelation.

* * *

><p>"That's not a costume," Buffy criticized as Xander pulled out a plastic gun. They were at a new costume shop with a bunch of kids searching for costumes since they'd "volunteered" to take some kids out trick or treating tomorrow night. Stupid Mr. Snyder, did he think he had <em>all <em>the power over them?

"I've got some fatigues from the Army surplus at home. Call me the two dollar costume king, baby!" He really looked excited about his costume. And there was Willow, standing by the side with her ghost costume, which really just looked like a sheet with a couple holes for eyes and such. Buffy was disappointed. Xander, along with any other guy, was never going to notice her if she kept hiding. That was when she became determined to dress Willow up in something completely amazing that would make Xander's jaw drop.

"Hey, Xander, about this morning. I'm really sorry-"

"Do you mind, Buffy? I'm trying to repress."

Buffy really didn't understand what the big deal was. So what she'd helped Xander out by saving him from a beating from Larry? He should be thanking her.

"I promise I'll let you get pummeled on from now on." Buffy said anyway.

She just happened to turn her head to the left…and that was when she saw it. All the voices around her seemed to fade out because there it was: the costume she wanted. Buffy moved to it. It was absolutely stunning. It was a white dress, spectacularly clean. It had small lucid sleeves and was long, would reach down to her feet. The whole dress looked kind of see-through, but then had solid white material behind it, giving a glossy illusion. Above the waist was a strap running across and behind.

It was a simple dress, no doubt, and yet somehow elegant. Buffy was so drawn to it and she couldn't explain why.

_Look Buffy, you may be hot-stuff when it comes to demonology or whatever, but when it comes to dating—I'm the Slayer, _Buffy thought of Cordelia's words earlier today when Buffy and Willow were in the ladies room looking at a drawing of a noblewoman, the kind of women Angel might have liked before. Well, this dress wasn't noblewoman at all, but it was still stunning; still stunning enough to catch Angel's attention so Cordelia wouldn't have to offer him anymore cappuccinos.

Unfortunately, it was probably also _way _out of her price range.

"Buffy?" Willow called; sounding like she'd called her name a thousand times before but still couldn't get Buffy's attention.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "It's just—this dress."

"It's amazing," Willow awed.

"Yeah," even Xander agreed. "It'd probably look really good on you, Buff." Willow shot him a look. "It'd look amazing on you too, Will."

"Please, allow me," a different voice joined the conversation. It was the costume shop owner, presumably Ethan, Buffy would guess. He took it off the mannequin and held it up to her. They looked in a mirror. "Wow. It suits you extremely well. It would be a crime for you not to buy it."

"I'm sorry," Buffy sighed wistfully. "It's probably way out of my price range."

"No, no, not at all. In fact, I feel quite…moved to make you any offer you want. Plus, this dress comes with its own special necklace." He held out a beautiful ruby necklace that made Buffy weak. It was beautiful, truly beautiful. Everything about the costume was magnificent. "The necklace is a free bonus."

"Well…" Buffy weighed the pros and cons back and forth. Oh, who was she kidding? There were no cons to getting this dress. "Okay," she gave in. She followed Ethan to the register.

"There's something off about that guy," Xander told Willow.

She playfully hit him with the ghost bag. "Oh, there's nothing off about him."

"Hey," Xander called as she began walking away, "that hurt!"

Not too long later, they left the costume shop, costumes in hand. Buffy was marveling over the dress and necklace. She could not _wait _until Angel saw it.

After a while of walking around, Xander went into his house, leaving just Buffy and Willow.

"So here's the deal," Buffy started, "come over tomorrow before we have to get to school to take the kids trick or treating. We'll create a costume that'll totally make you non-ghost-y."

"Are-are you sure?" Willow seemed nervous. "I already paid for this and it was only three bucks!" She held up her ghost costume. "I'd be a fool not to wear such a bargain."

"Just trust me, Will. It won't be permanent; it's just for one night. Xander will freak."

"Angel will too. When he sees you in that dress, I mean."

"Yeah, well, let's hope so."

* * *

><p>Drusilla walked in the room. There he was, her darling, her sweet, sweet William. He'd been in this room doing the same thing all day. Watching <em>that <em>video. He was so caught up in the video that he didn't notice her enter.

He was like an obsessed child, watching that video of the Slayer slaying the vampire over and over again. He claimed he was studying her moves, figuring out how he could find a way to win in a fight. The video rewound again.

Spike finally noticed Dru as she walked in front of him. He took her in his arms, but at the same time never took his eyes off of the video.

Dru thought about Ethan, the costumes, the plan, the darkness that was inside of that dirty man. "Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?" she asked.

"Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet. That's why I have to study this Slayer. Once…"

Dru stopped listening. He was talking to her, but not paying attention. It was that video of the Slayer. She realized what was happening as it unfolded in front of her eyes, she'd realized it when they first arrived in Sunnydale, so many pictures and words flashing through her mind. Her William had a future in front of him, one that he would never expect. In love with the Slayer. Dru knew there was no denying it would happen. The pixies told her. But the Slayer would never _truly_ love him (especially not when she would always be so hung up on Angel, forever and ever). But things were about to take dramatic turns.

The plan was already in motion. The Slayer had the dress. All that had to happen was Halloween. Halloween would come and bring the changes. Everything was working out for the best.

She knew what she had to do to make sure everything worked out perfectly. William wouldn't be happy with it at first, but he'd come around to it and accept his fate. And really, that was all Dru wanted for her William. For him to be happy.

"Dru? Are you listening?" Spike questioned.

"I was listening to the pixies," Dru stated, beginning to draw her fingernail against the skin on his arm, moving the sleeve of his jacket up.

"It's alright, love."

"You'll love me," Dru said.

"Always," Spike confirmed, kissing Dru's head, mistaking her words for a question. He had absolutely no idea about the white dress.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel belong to their copyright holders, I own nothing. The idea for the story belongs to Greaser Kid.

**Timeline: **Starting in season 2, will eventually go a lot further.

**Pairings: **Some Drusilla-Buffy/Spike and Buffy/Angel.

**A/N: **Sorry this update took so long. They shouldn't usually be this far between.

The next day, it was Halloween. By the time Willow came over, Buffy's mom had already left. Willow was clutching the ghost costume in her hands nervously, obviously still contemplating letting Buffy dress her up. They hurried up to Buffy's room and Buffy started rummaging through her closet, looking for something she could dress Willow in.

Buffy held up one of the most risqué things Willow had ever seen. It was a red top, cut extremely low, with long sleeves. If worn, surely Willow's stomach would be exposed. She certainly, certainly wasn't comfortable with that.

"Oh, I-I don't know," Willow stared.

"Will, come on," Buffy urged. "Maybe it's not ideal, but it's Halloween. No one will care." She reached back into her closet and pulled out a black skirt. "I think this will match, no?"

"I can't believe your mom would ever buy something like this for you," Willow said, taking the top in her hand. She knew Joyce, and she knew Joyce wouldn't approve of Buffy wearing something like this.

"Actually, I bought it a long time ago. I never wore it, though. Now, I'm thinking we put your hair up. Maybe it some kind of, like, extremely messy bun?"

Willow sighed, accepting defeat. Buffy wasn't going to give up on this. So, she sat down while Buffy put her hair up. When she was done, Buffy gave her the clothes and suggested they get changed. They had to be at the school soon. Willow went in the bathroom while Buffy stayed in her room.

She pulled out the white dress she'd picked up at the store before. Oh, it really was beautiful, and Buffy couldn't wait to wear it. Above all, she couldn't wait until Angel saw it. His jaw would drop, she imagined. That way, whenever she was late to another date or not looking her best and Cordelia decided to swoop in like some kind of maniacal man-hunter, all Angel had to do was picture Buffy in this dress and he'd forget about everything else.

Okay, maybe that was a bit of a stretch, but that was what Buffy was hoping for.

It didn't take long for her to get into the dress. She had curled her hair a bit earlier, and she liked how it looked. The dress fit Buffy perfectly; definitely showed off her figure. The dress almost appeared shiny due to the sheerness and then solid white material. She put on the ruby necklace that came with the dress, and that truly was the icing on top of the cake. The necklace and the dress didn't overlap—the necklace was held against the bare part of Buffy's chest.

Buffy was still looking at herself in the mirror when Willow came back in. She was messing with her hands nervously as Buffy looked her up and down.

"Willow! You're a dish!"

Willow didn't _feel _like a dish. She felt _exposed, _and that wasn't a good feeling. In the mirror, she practically didn't recognize herself. She tried to cover her exposed stomach. Gosh, she couldn't do this.

"This just isn't me," Willow tried to tell Buffy.

"That's the point! Willow, just trust me. You look amazing. I cannot wait to see the boys go all non-verbal when they see you."

Willow looked at Buffy. "You look great too. B-better than great. That dress…"

"You think Angel will be impressed?"

Before Willow could answer, the doorbell rang. "That's Xander," Buffy said. She hurried downstairs, leaving Willow alone in the room, looking at herself in the mirror yet again. This wasn't going to work, no matter what Buffy said. She stepped over to the ghost costume she had.

Downstairs, Buffy and Xander complimented each other's costumes. Xander looked good in his army uniform. They heard Willow coming down and Buffy got excited—she was feeling good that because of her she could help Willow finally get somewhere with Xander.

But then her excited feeling slightly deflated when Willow walked down with her ghost costume that said "BOO!" in large letters.

Buffy started to feel guilty. Clearly, Willow wasn't comfortable with the other costume, and as Willow's best friend, Buffy had almost forced her to be uncomfortable all night. Well, it was useless now. They had to get going to the school.

* * *

><p>Spike was watching the video again. Of course he was. Dru couldn't seem to pull him away from watching the Slayer. With it being Halloween, Spike thought there was no point in going out, so he'd study the Slayer's fight tactics some more. Something large <em>was <em>happening tonight, though, even if he didn't know about it. Dru knew what was happening, though. She knew the plan. By the end of tonight, things would be different for her dear William.

Everything would be better off this way. Spike would get what he truly wanted deep inside, and the Slayer would be gone.

The only problem with the plan was that, at a certain point, there'd be two Drusilla's. And Dru, oh, she knew there couldn't be two of her, because the pixies told her that that would confuse poor Spike. There could only be one Drusilla—and the plan for the second Drusilla was already in motion, and with the ruby necklace that would make the transformation permanent when connected with the Janus statue, there was no going back.

Dru could be here no longer. Spike loved her, but in the future he'd love the Slayer more. By mixing the two, Spike would be getting the greatest gift imaginable.

In order for the other necessary part of the plan to be done, Spike couldn't be here when the spell started. But he wasn't going to go out on Halloween, not unless he knew of the craziness that would occur.

She found him watching the video of Buffy.

"My William," she spoke slowly, but not deliberately. The words, they often seemed to rush out of her mouth without her thinking of what she wanted to stay. That was an after affect of what Daddy did to her, she supposed. "Everything is changing."

Spike turned off the video and went over to Drusilla.

"What do you mean, love?"

"Tonight the monsters become real. The little monsters come to life in the darkness."

Spike frowned. "Tonight? You must be mistaken, love. Nothin' happens on Halloween."

"This time things are _different. _The Slayer…she's the one."

A grin splashed on Spike's face. "Somethin' is happenin' to the Slayer tonight?"

"So much change," Dru shuddered.

"Dru, this is bloody fantastic. Go get some rest, love. I can handle everything else from here."

Then, he went and began gathering some men. Night would fall soon, and when it did they would rise, searching for the Slayer, because Dru had said that things were changing.

Humming to herself, Dru began making her way to her room. Everything was working, just as she knew it had to be. Everything was coming together, because this was how it was meant to turn out.

In her room, Drusilla grabbed a stake she had lying around.

"Close your eyes, Miss Edith," Dru told the doll who was sitting up, her eyes staring at Dru as if she really were alive. "Don't worry. I'll be back before dawn."

* * *

><p>At the school, everything was happening as normal. Buffy, Willow, and Xander were separated with their own group of kids. Cordelia had her cat costume which was <em>not <em>bought at _Ethan's, _and she went over and talked to Oz about Devon not showing up for their date.

When it was time, they went out to go trick or treating.

The night started out slow. It was normal trick or treating, and Buffy actually found herself kind of enjoying it. She couldn't remember the last time she had been out at night and hadn't had to fight any vampires or other demons. It was a good night, and enjoyable, and it'd be even better when she got to see Angel later.

Over at _Ethan's, _Ethan was just about completing the spell. The ruby necklace and the Janus statue had already been connected previous to Buffy's purchase, so all Ethan had to do was activate the effect and the plan would actually happen. It was quite exciting. And yet, it was also quite fearful. That vampire, Drusilla, she was crazy, Ethan knew. So for her to have an exact plan for Buffy, Ethan was extraordinarily shocked and curious to what that plan was. What possible plan could cause an insane vampire to become so cunning? Certainly it wasn't for the greater good. He'd already made the commitment to go through with the plan, though, so there was no turning back.

Just as Ethan began to start the turning of that night, Spike and his gang left and went out to go find the Slayer. According to Dru, something was happening to the Slayer tonight, and Spike wasn't going to miss a single opportunity he could take.

Once Spike left, and Dru knew for sure he was gone, she could feel the transformations start to occur. Not inside of her, but of the people of Sunnydale. It was _happening. _And she was still here, still grasping the stake in her hands. Slowly but surely, she struck the stake in to her own chest. But it was okay. Because as the un-life was fading out of her, she got an onslaught of visions. Visions of herself—Dru and Spike—and they were ruling and they were happy. Even though Dru wouldn't be around to see it, she would still rise to great strength and darkness. Drusilla's name, even if the real one were dead, would still rise to accomplish great terrors.

Then, as she crumbled to dust, everyone who had bought a costume at _Ethan's _began to change.

* * *

><p>The old woman ran out of candy. Normally, Willow wouldn't have thought it that big a deal. Apparently, the kids thought otherwise.<p>

But then, as the kid grabbed the woman's neck, Willow saw that the kid was no longer a kid. No, he was a monster, a sick, disgusting, horrible monster, and so were all the other kids. They'd all just suddenly changed. Screams rose from across the street. It wasn't just Willow's group. Kids all over were becoming monsters. What in the world was-

Suddenly Willow was falling to the ground, feeling something wrong. Her heart was slowing and slowing and…

And then it was beating again. The monster-kids had all run off. Willow stood up, knowing she had to go find Buffy immediately.

As she stood up, she realized she was no longer comforted in her ghost costume. The ghost costume was gone and all that was left was her in the costume Buffy had put together for her.

Wait a minute. Costumes.

"Oh my God," she whispered to herself. "I'm really a ghost."

To test her theory, she tried to stick her hand through the wall…and it went right through. She took a shaky, unnecessary breath. This couldn't be happening. No, no, no, why couldn't anything go right in Sunnydale?

The sound of an automatic rifle going off rang in her ears.

If everyone was becoming their costumes then the gun could only mean a limited amount of people. Xander!

* * *

><p>Right before the transformations had occurred, the ruby necklace Buffy was wearing began glowing. Concerned, she began to try to take it off, but it was as if the necklace was glued to her body. Buffy started panicking and everything went dark.<p>

She came to when there was a bunch of screams and the sound of a gun going off. Her eyes snapped open and she saw plenty of monsters running around the streets, attacking any other civilians they could find. Gosh, where had they all come from? Oh well, Buffy needed to do something, and do it now!

She jumped up on her feet, but something was wrong. She didn't feel…right. As odd as it was, Buffy felt…taller.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw something black. She reached back and grabbed at her hair. Wh…what? Where was her golden blond hair? When had it turned _black?_ And in her vision she could see her hands and—ew—those were not her nails.

Buffy looked down at the necklace. It was no longer glowing. She tried to pull it off, but, again, it wouldn't come off.

She placed her hands against her chest, trying to rip the necklace off. And she felt the absentness, the silence. God, how hadn't she noticed it before? She had no heartbeat.

"Who am I?" Buffy whispered, tears forming in the eyes that she could see out of but knew were no longer truly her own.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel belong to their copyright holders, I own nothing. The idea for the story belongs to Greaser Kid.

**Timeline: **Starting in season 2, will eventually go a lot further.

**Pairings: **Some Drusilla-Buffy/Spike and Buffy/Angel.

Willow ran up just in time to see Xander shooting the gun. The bright flashes of the gun brought light to the night, illuminating all the kids who were running around as monsters. At first, Willow didn't know what to do. She froze, shocked. What was Xander _doing? _He had to know better than this, to shoot when there were other civilians out, as well as trying to hit the innocent kids who were now trapped as monsters.

"Xander!" Willow shouted, trying to stop his shooting.

Of course, Xander didn't _know _he was Alexander Harris. In fact, he wasn't sure who he was at all. All he knew was loads of information about the army and how there were tons of little demon-looking things running around all over the place. So, with the gun in his hand, he started to shoot. It seemed like the right thing to do.

Until he heard her cry. He didn't recognize the voice or who it was calling to. But due to the sheer desperation he heard, he stopped shooting and instantly searched around for the lady who obviously needed help. He was no idiot, though, and in case it was a trick he kept the gun pointed upwards just in case.

Willow stopped in front of Xander. Despite the new ghost status, fear still spread through her at the sight of the gun.

"It's me, Willow," she tried to talk to Xander. Did he not recognize her because of her clothes?

"I don't know any Willow," he snickered.

"Xander, please quit messing around," Willow begged, mainly hoping that this was just him playing one of his stupid yet loveable jokes.

He ignored her. Why she was talking to him he didn't know, nor did he care. Something _major _was going on here, tonight, and he felt like he was the only one who could stop it. These monsters, demons, whatever they were, needed to die before they hurt someone. Simple as that.

"You don't know me?" Willow tried again.

This lady didn't seem too put together, but still, he didn't want her to get hurt, and there were more monsters coming this way. He raised his gun, preparing to shoot.

"No!" Willow yelled. And forgetting she was a ghost, she tried to jump in front of him. He only walked right through her. It was a strange feeling—getting walked through. Kind of cold and astonishing, but amusing at the same time.

He pointed the gun at her again. "What are you?"

She tried explaining it as best she could. It was Halloween; she was dressed as a ghost and now was a ghost, so he must be a soldier now because he was dressed as one. He didn't believe it at first.

_Xander, _he thought to himself. _Is that really my name?_

Then, when he tried to shoot at the monsters again, Willow stopped him once more. There were still kids in there, and she didn't want any of them to get hurt.

"No guns! That's an order!"

Though he tried to fight it, there was something overly powerful about receiving an order like that. Reluctantly, he lowered the gun. This lady…he had to hope that she really knew what she was talking about.

"We just need to find Buffy." Willow looked around frantically. Gosh, she couldn't have gone too far, could she have? In her frantic search for Buffy or the dress she was wearing, she wasn't looking too carefully. She noticed a woman with a white dress on a little ways away, but she had dark hair. It wasn't Buffy, and with this emergency, they needed to find her _now. _"Come on," she urged Army-Xander.

They went running away, searching for a Buffy they would never find.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Buffy was too focused on her problem to even notice Willow and Xander. Her hair, her hands, no heartbeat—what was going on? Screams surrounded the air around her and the Slayer in her said to look up and see what was going on, but really all Buffy wanted to do was figure out who she was, how she had suddenly just <em>changed. <em>

A mirror. Once she found one, she'd be able to see who she was and then be able to go from there.

What had this damn necklace done to her? This all started when it had randomly begun glowing red. Now, it had stopped, and she was different, and the necklace was a million pounds of steel that refused to even budge.

As she stepped forward, edging closer to the people who were running by, a peculiar scent hit her nose. She wasn't sure what it was, but it caused her stomach to grumble. Her nose followed the scent a few feet away, where a woman was getting beat up by a demon. Kicking into slayage mode, she ran forward and sent a side kick into the demon. It went flying away.

Buffy looked down at the woman. She was bleeding from multiple wounds because of the demon.

And the blood…there was a slight glisten to it Buffy hadn't noticed before. Alluring, the blood was, causing her to involuntarily lean forward, wanting, mouth watering…

_Vampire, _the word came into Buffy's mind strangely enough for the first time. It horrified her that it actually made sense. No heartbeat, still enough strength to beat up a demon, and a thirst for blood.

"No," Buffy whispered to herself in a mysterious voice. Before she gave in, she turned away from the woman and ran. This couldn't be happening. Unfortunately, there was only one thing she could think of to check on her suspicion. Really, she should've known, though, and deep inside she did. She just didn't want it to be true.

She ran up to a building and rushed over to a window, hoping that she'd see a reflection—any reflection—looking back at her.

Of course, that wasn't what happened. Nothing looked back at her.

And Buffy burst into tears, and as she did, she remembered they were not her own. She was in somebody else's _body. _She was a _vampire _and yet…

And yet. Despite being a vampire and in someone else's body, she didn't feel very different. Her mind was still her own, and she didn't feel evil, so that meant her soul was still intact. Her mind, her soul, everything was normal except for her body. That meant there was hope. This could be fixed. All she had to do was find the answers.

There was hope and fear in Buffy's mind. A part of her worried about how the necklace hadn't budged, and it seemed to be the only thing that could give her answers.

Plus, as she looked around hearing the screams and remembered back to seeing that woman getting attacked by the demon, she realized it wasn't only her. Other people had fallen victim to the change of personas as well. They needed help, as did she.

The problem was that Buffy didn't know where to start, and she couldn't handle this alone. She had to go find Willow and Xander. They wouldn't recognize her, but if she talked to them they'd understand.

* * *

><p>Having read up on the effects of the necklace, Ethan knew what was happening in Sunnydale right now. People had changed, as planned, and Buffy had changed as well.<p>

His original plan was to have Buffy don a noble woman typed costume, which would take over her mind and make her forget whom she was just as some costumes did to some others. Then the Slayer would be lost and everything would go crazy.

The necklace Dru had given him wouldn't allow that though. It was specifically designed to change Buffy's _entire _body into whoever's costume she was wearing rather than change her mind to forget who she was. That was okay, Ethan supposed, but that wasn't the original plan. The only other upside to the necklace was that it connected itself to the Janus statue—meaning that even if the Janus statue was destroyed, the spell that changed everybody would not end until the ruby was destroyed as well.

Since he had no reason to protect the statue, Ethan figured it'd be best to get away from the costume shop. It wouldn't be too long before someone—his old pal Giles, perhaps?—figured out the key to Sunnydale gone mad was _Ethan's Costume Shop. _

The best part, though, was that he'd destroy the statue thinking that would solve every little problem. But it wouldn't. And Giles wouldn't know what to do.

* * *

><p>For Willow and Xander, everything went the same as usual. They ran towards Buffy's house because Willow hoped that Buffy's costume affected her like Willow's had rather than Xander's. They needed Slayer Buffy, not an amnesiac Buffy.<p>

At her house, they found Cordelia needing help, and then Angel arrived a little later. Cordelia was in a cat costume, and Willow was worried about how _that _would turn out. To her surprise, Cordelia knew who she was though. She hadn't turned into a cat. Unfortunately, she couldn't think about it much because the house was under attack.

Still no sign of Buffy. Angel wanted to find her, but Willow convinced him that he, Xander, and Cordelia needed to stay here and fight off any demons they could. Willow decided that she needed to go find Giles. He'd be able to help.

So she left them behind. On her way to Giles's, she kept her eyes open Buffy, just in case.

Xander, Angel, and Cordelia were eventually forced the leave the house due to the amount of demons surrounding it. They ran to find another place to hide.

* * *

><p>Spike was walking down the street, basking in the glory that was this night. Dru was right about tonight. The monsters <em>were <em>real.

He didn't know how it happened, or why, but that didn't matter. People seemed to have changed to their costumes, and Spike had high hopes that the Slayer would be weakened by whatever she was dressed as.

While walking, something quite surprising happened. There was someone up ahead running towards Spike and his crew. He recognized her. That dark hair, that white dress he'd seen before… What in the world was Drusilla doing out now? This couldn't be right. Was something wrong?

"Love?" Spike called to her.

At the sound of his voice, Buffy-as-Drusilla's head snapped up. She stopped running as her eyes met his.

_Oh, no, _Buffy thought to herself. _Could this night get any worse?_

"What do you think you're doin' out right now, love? If you wanted to come, you could have asked before." Spike stepped closer to who he thought was Drusilla.

Buffy didn't know what to do. She was confused. Spike knew this vampire she looked like now?

Still, Buffy was a bit paranoid, and she didn't want Spike near her. "Spike, stay away from me," the words came out almost instinctively.

Spike looked hurt. "Dru, what's wrong?"

_Dru? _Buffy had yet to learn about the vampire named Drusilla, so she had no idea who that was or the significance.

"You said things were changin'," Spike continued. "Looks like you were right. Only problem is the Slayer. You know where she is, love? Did you come to see me beat her?"

_He was coming to kill me, _Buffy realized. Spike was dangerous, she knew that obviously. In this body, though, she was somebody he cared about, if that was even possible. As much as she hated this vampire body, she had the upper hand right now, in this moment. She needed to find Giles, Willow, Xander, or anybody, but she couldn't do that now if she also had to worry about fighting Spike. She had the upper hand. He thought she was somebody else. She needed to find a way to use this to her advantage before he noticed something was horribly wrong. If Spike wanted to find Buffy, then he'd start by looking for her friends. She had to follow him to them because she couldn't find them herself.

"Yes," Buffy said as this Dru vampire. "Let's find the Slayer."

Then, unexpectedly, the ruby necklace started glowing again. Except this time, when it stopped, nothing changed. Buffy was still Dru. The rest of the people in their costumes were still monsters.

* * *

><p>Giles and Willow figured out that it was <em>Ethan's Costume Shop <em>that had done this to everybody. They hurried there to find the place devoid of anybody. Ethan was long gone, and Giles cursed himself for having missed him. Ethan was…trouble. He'd show up again soon, that much they could count on.

He recognized the Janus statue and what it did. With ghost Willow standing right beside him, he destroyed the statue the best he could.

The destruction of the statue caused the ruby necklace to glow as a sign of the only power remaining, but no one was around to see that.

Willow was disappointed to see that it didn't work. She was still a ghost, which meant everybody was still stuck in their costumes. Xander, an army man. Buffy, a…a what, exactly? She didn't know yet, and they needed to find Buffy soon.

Giles was confused as to why it hadn't worked. He figured that there had to be another power source he was missing, but he couldn't figure out what that power source was, at least not right away. More research needed to be done. What was wrong was that he had no idea how long more research could take.

And while they had to wait to figure out the other power source, nobody was able to change back to who they were before.


End file.
